Video tape this

Congratulations to the New York Giants. For the longest time, I never thought it was possible. Only when I heard the news about the rumored taping of Rams practices ahead of Super Bowl XXXVI, did I think that maybe karma would intervene.

Should of followed that instinct with a bet. Everyone's an almost gambler though the day after a underdog eeks out a big win.

A few Rams related thoughts on the morning after.

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• What a difference a good d-line can make, huh? Five sacks on Brady, two from DE Justin Tuck, one from DE Strahan, one from DT Jay Alford and another from LB Kawika Mitchell. Only one of those sacks came from a player not on the front four. I've beaten the drum for picking an OT in the first round, but now I wonder if taking a DE like Chris Long won't have more of an impact. You can make the case either way. At the very least, I think we know what two positions to take with the first two picks.
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• The Giants bunch of hobbled and overlooked receivers had a great game. Sure would be nice to see the Rams receiving corps have one last fling like that.
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• You can't "overvalue" a quarterback. The difference between Gus Frerotte and Marc Bulger is winning season, everything else being equal. However, as great a performance as Eli Manning had, he wasn't my pick for MVP. And since you couldn't give that honor to the entire Giants' defensive line, I would have given the award to Justin Tuck. The Patriots offense has been near unstoppable all season, and Tom Brady turned in a QB season for the record books. It was their game to lose. Sure enough, the Giants defensive line batted down the passes, hurried the star quarter back, and did everything but score the Giants 17 points. In the midst of all that was Justin Tuck with two sacks and the only forced fumble the Giants had. Like I said though, the whole defensive front gets credit and there's only room for name on the MVP plaque.
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• Steve Spagnuolo will be the most coveted head coaching candidate at the end of next season.
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• I was impressed how the Giants dominated the clock with their offense in the first half. There were just two possessions in the first quarter...TWO! And the Giants had the ball for 10 minutes of the opening frame. In the end the difference in time of possession was a push, just about a one minute total difference. However, in the crucial second half of a surprisingly close game, the Giants defense had more in the tank than their New England counterparts. And that was reflected in the results. Linehan espouses a ball control theory for his offense. Unfortunately, injuries, a few weak spots and some mighty woeful play calling made it look like foolishness. Hopefully, with Al Saunders calling the plays, fixes on the line, and improved blocking from all parts, we'll see some results in 2008.
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• Here's a great X's and O's article on the Giants defense from NFL.com's Pat Kirwan.
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• Pats Pulpit has a nice round up of post Super Bowl links, in case your Monday's off to a slow start, as well as a slice of humble pie.
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• Blogging about the Super Bowl winner must be nice. Big Blue View has it all covered from that angle.
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Super Bowl over, Pro Bowl meaningless, we'll get back to Rams, Rams and more Rams here at TST. The scouting combine is at the end of the month, Feb 20-26 to be exact, so we'll have lots of "future" to talk about between now and then and the April draft. Position reviews continue this week with wide receivers tomorrow.